Better Off Ted

CHICAGO – With their renewal of “Better Off Ted” and “Scrubs,” it’s clear that ABC is unwilling to throw in the towel and give up on a comedy that’s not finding its audience. Before the wonderful arrival of “Modern Family,” easily one of the best shows on TV, ABC was not recently known as the place for laughs and there has clearly been a conscious effort to change that including giving the relatively audience deficient “Better Off Ted” another shot at finding a following (as well as scheduling an entire night of new comedy to start the season on Wednesdays).

CHICAGO – ABC is still struggling to find the next big hit to stand next to monsters like “Lost,” “Desperate Housewives,” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” and they decided to give Nathan Fillion & Stana Katic’s “Castle” a shot at hit status, but cancelled several other new shows, including “The Unusuals” and “Cupid”.

DVD Rating: 5.0/5.0

CHICAGO – When I hear about shows that were “brilliant-but-canceled” one of the first series that comes to mind is the great “Andy Richter Controls the Universe”. Developing a cult following through cable repeats over the years, the complete series has been one of the most requested-but-unavailable titles since the show left the air over five years ago. Andy fans, your day has finally come. Rejoice.

Television Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – In a landscape of increasingly lower ratings for quirky TV comedy (talk to the producers of “Scrubs” if you don’t believe me), I’m kind of amazed that “Better Off Ted” made it to the air. If “Arrested Development” and everything Andy Richter has ever tried couldn’t find an audience, who thought people would be attracted to this left-of-center workplace sitcom? And the fact that it doesn’t live up to the potential of its concept means the show’s thin chance of survival just disappeared.